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Author Topic: Red River 50lb. Arctic Polar Luster Double Sided - for printing books  (Read 4488 times)

john_carroll

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Hello to all...

Red River markets 50lb. Arctic Polar Luster Double Sided paper as suitable for creating books.    The RR website characterizes the Arctic Polar Papers as having "acid free base stock" and "coating slightly acidic".  The site goes on to explain as follows: "Photobase resin coated (RC) inkjet papers almost always have a slightly acidic coating. Our paper mills explain that the acidity facilitates ink setting and drying. The level of acid content is not projected to speed ink fade, especially with pigment inks." (quote from RR website)

My question is...    should I be concerned about this "coating slightly acidic" statement?

With respect to book printing, the weight is 190 gsm, which is fine for book pages, and it is advertised that "Inks will not smudge, rub off, or offset from page to page - even if you're using pigment inks".    Grain direction is specified.    My experience with it so far is that images printed from my Epson 3880 look great and text (fontsize 9-10) is sharp (at 300 dpi).  The paper folds well with correct grain orientation, although it looks like the coating cracks slightly on the outer side of the fold.   The folded edges of each spread will be in the spine of the books, so it shouldn't matter.

I should add that these are not strictly "photo books"; they are traditional books with text and photos, hand sewn (in 16 page signatures) on tapes and case-bound in the traditional way...  for family and friends (non-commercial).  The hope is that they would last a long time and be passed on within the family for many years to come. 

Any thoughts about using this paper for this purpose would be appreciated.

http://www.redrivercatalog.com/browse/50lb-arctic-polar-luster-double-sided-inkjet-photo-paper.html

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Ernst Dinkla

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Re: Red River 50lb. Arctic Polar Luster Double Sided - for printing books
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2012, 03:42:44 am »



My question is...    should I be concerned about this "coating slightly acidic" statement?

The hope is that they would last a long time and be passed on within the family for many years to come. 

Any thoughts about using this paper for this purpose would be appreciated.


Slightly acidic does not sound like a good property anyway but it is an RC paper, the paper base is within the PE barriers and the acid outside. I can not predict what the acidity does to the inks, it could be a good or a bad thing.
I do not have a sample of that particular RR paper but the RR Arctic Polar qualities that I measured have lots of OBA in the coating. In time the  paper edges in a book could yellow in my opinion.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
480+ inkjet paper white spectral plots, November 2012:
rearranged categories, Sihl Masterclass papers added.
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john_carroll

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Re: Red River 50lb. Arctic Polar Luster Double Sided - for printing books
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2012, 01:22:25 pm »

Slightly acidic does not sound like a good property anyway but it is an RC paper, the paper base is within the PE barriers and the acid outside. I can not predict what the acidity does to the inks, it could be a good or a bad thing.

I do not have a sample of that particular RR paper but the RR Arctic Polar qualities that I measured have lots of OBA in the coating. In time the  paper edges in a book could yellow in my opinion.

Ernst...   thank you for your thoughts on this.   Red River states that all of their papers are acid and lignin-free, so I guess any "yellowing" would be the natural color of the base paper.

Hahnemühle has a new paper called Hahnemühle Photo Rag Book & Album.   I just ordered a box for testing.   Unlike the RR paper, which has a luster finish, the Hahnemühle paper is a smooth matte.

http://www.hahnemuehle.com/news/en/239/456/hahnemuehle-photo-rag-book-album-new-fineart-paper-for-photo-books-and-albums.html

Edit:  I just saw that you have already tested this paper as well as the Harman by HM Matt Fibre Duo 210 (which I don't think is available in US yet).   Both look very interesting for bookbinding.
« Last Edit: November 26, 2012, 01:53:48 pm by john_carroll »
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Ernst Dinkla

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Re: Red River 50lb. Arctic Polar Luster Double Sided - for printing books
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2012, 01:54:36 pm »


Hahnemühle has a new paper called Hahnemühle Photo Rag Book & Album.   I just ordered a box for testing.   Unlike the RR paper, which has a luster finish, the Hahnemühle paper is a smooth matte.

http://www.hahnemuehle.com/news/en/239/456/hahnemuehle-photo-rag-book-album-new-fineart-paper-for-photo-books-and-albums.html

Some days ago I received some sheets and measured them. A sample was printed on both sides. It is a very nice paper that gives a superb image quality.

Ernst, op de lei getypt
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Ernst Dinkla

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Re: Red River 50lb. Arctic Polar Luster Double Sided - for printing books
« Reply #4 on: November 27, 2012, 06:34:59 am »

John,

Check the   Harman by HM Matt Fibre Duo 210gsm too, Alpha Cellulose so might be more affordable and image quality is at the same level. No OBAs, a bit warmer than the neutral HM Photorag B&A, Lab 98.1 -0.4 2.0.  The Photorag is more opaque though so the print at the back will be less visible at the front.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
480+ inkjet paper white spectral plots, November 2012:
rearranged categories, Sihl Masterclass papers added.


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john_carroll

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Re: Red River 50lb. Arctic Polar Luster Double Sided - for printing books
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2012, 01:44:24 pm »

Check the   Harman by HM Matt Fibre Duo 210gsm too, Alpha Cellulose so might be more affordable and image quality is at the same level. No OBAs, a bit warmer than the neutral HM Photorag B&A, Lab 98.1 -0.4 2.0.  The Photorag is more opaque though so the print at the back will be less visible at the front.

Ernst,

Thank you again for your thoughts on this.    I now have the Red River 'book' paper (50 lb. Arctic Polar Luster), the Hahnemühle Book & Album is on order and I'll order the Harman by HM Matt Fibre Duo 210gsm as soon as it is available in the USA.  It will be interesting to compare their qualities for bookbinding.   I'll post my (non-expert) observations after I have tried all three papers.
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MartinG

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Re: Red River 50lb. Arctic Polar Luster Double Sided - for printing books
« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2014, 02:26:22 pm »

Hi John,

I was just about to order this paper and do tests and found your old thread. Have you used it, and if so, what are your observations ? Thanks!

Martin
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jferrari

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Re: Red River 50lb. Arctic Polar Luster Double Sided - for printing books
« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2014, 06:40:36 pm »

Martin, john_carroll has not posted here for almost two years. Hopefully you'll get better results from your other thread.    - Jim
« Last Edit: September 18, 2014, 06:42:29 pm by jferrari »
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Nothing changes until something changes.

MartinG

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Re: Red River 50lb. Arctic Polar Luster Double Sided - for printing books
« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2014, 07:01:26 pm »

Thanks Jim. I had not checked John's post history, but maybe someone else would have replied since the two threads were not about the same subject. But like you said, hopefully more comments in the new thread.
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